My 14 month old wakes at 5am everyday

[lilbooboo1]

My 14 month old keeps waking up at 5am everyday for the past 4 weeks and i don't know how to change it. I have tried making her bedtime earlier, later and tried making sure her naps are long enough. I think she may be in the middle of trying to drop a nap but because she gets up so early she needs a sleep around 9ish but will only do about an hour. That then means she will fall asleep again about 2.30/3 but I never let her sleep past 4pm. She woke at 6.10am randomly last week and she was in such a better mood, only needed one nap and napped longer then usual. I feel like I've tried everything and it's not working, me and my partner are drained. Has anyone got any advice or tips for trying to break this habit? Will be much appreciated x

When is bed time? I think mine needed at least 4.5 hours between last nap and bed at that age. Although mine went completely to one nap at 14.5 months which is early if you believe what the internet says, but completely average if you spoke to our baby group.

4pm seems a late finish for naps to me. Might be that baby is getting too much day sleep?

I would try really shortening the first nap and bring the second one earlier and let them sleep as long as they like for that one. By 14 months we had a first nap of no more than ten mins!

That's a long time between 10am and 230pm....

Lo does 9am till 10am then 230pm/3pm till 4pm? Meaning 2 hours sleep?

Sorry I didn't make it very clear with the times haha 😂 so when she's getting up at 5am she will want to nap from about 8.30/9am and has about an hour. But then might not even want to nap again till later on (3 or 3.30 and will sleep till I wake her) but I feel it's to late before bed time which is at 7pm. I don't know if she's going through something as it's a struggle to get her to nap sometimes and then at night she's kicking off when we put her down for bed. She use to be really good at it. Think I'm just struggling to find the right times to get her to nap as she's waking so early x

How does your lo get to sleep do they self soothe??
We did approx
915am/930am sleep for 45 mins maximum. I would wake.
1pm/115pm until 330pm. Usually I wouldn't wake.
730pm till 8pm bed

Is lo nice and full before sleep? Most people do approx variation of the 234 method.

I would go with lo is overtired personally.

Just remember that Any changes made will take a few weeks to see a difference a couple later bedtimes won't work. It needs to be consistent.

At 5am I would not be getting up. Most I might do on a temp basis is give a feed as their probably hungry (my lo is a fatty and wouldnt go 12 hours without food) keep it nice and dark and do everything u can to get lo back to sleep.

Just to make it nice and confusing for you I would say LO is undertired I reckon 😂. If they often go 4/5 hours between naps no problem then only 3 hours before bed is just not enough.

I would shorten the first nap dramatically and aim for a longer nap around 1 and don'tlet them sleep after 3. Then expect the morning nap to dissappear entirely over the next month. Hopefully that will stop your bedtime battles and early mornings.

She went through a good patch where she would self soothe but has completely changed. I now usually have to get her to sleep on me then I put her in bed when she's completely out of it. She's always been very clingy and only just coming out of major separation anxiety that started from about 9 months.

She eats well at tea time and has an 8oz bottle before bed so not sure if she's waking cuz she's hungry. When she's waking at 5am I will grab her from her bedroom (not speak) and put her bed with us but she will lie there for 10mins sucking her thumb then she's up and crawling round us. Usually screams till one of us gets up 🙁 I could try giving her a bottle then and see if it's that. My partner said this morning she woke at 5am, he let her crawl around our room for 30 mins or so and then she came back on the bed and slept till 7.45am.

I think maybe if I can sort her napping schedule out better then maybe she would sleep longer in the morning. You feel like you sort the right naps out and then they change and it's like starting all over again 😫😂

I also find the napping hard because she won't fall asleep in the pram, only just started falling asleep in the car. So if we need to go out she won't sleep unless we are home or super tired x

Hear you on this.

You feel like you sort the right naps out and then they change and it's like starting all over again 😫😂

It doesn't feel that long ago that I was figuring out how to go from two naps to one nap. And now I have a nineteenth month old and I'm starting to think I might need to cap his one nap for the same issues you're having.

😂 kids are so confusing 😂

Because she fell back to sleep this morning she ended up napping about 12 till 1.45 then I kept her up till bed time and tonight wasn't a struggle for once. She was asleep in her bed by 19.30

Got my fingers and toes crossed that she gets up at earliest 6am. I can deal with that haha 😂

Feel like I took for granted that days of 7pm bed and 6.30am wake up. I would do anything for that back again!

Thanks guys for advice, I'll give it all a try x

Doesn't help that all my friends kids are amazing sleepers! I'm talking 8pm bed time 8.30am wake up with a 3 hour nap during the day 😫😂 I'm sure she will get better! Got to keep telling myself that! Haha 😂 X

Oh those people are so irritating and smug aren't they!? It's worth remembering that sleepiness is prized in babies but not adults. Think of all the really successful famous people who say they only sleep 5 hours a night. I think ours are onto something personally.

Sounds like your schedule today was much better. Hopefully she can keep it up. Let us know!

Sadly this might just be their normal. My son wakes at 5.30 and has done since about a year old (now 2.5). We've tried earlier bedtimes, later bedtimes, cutting the nap, black out blinds, gro clock, sleep training etc with no luck. He just sits up at 5.30 ready to start the day.

Oh I've found my people! My 13 month old has to be rocked to sleep in his pram then transferred to his cot, he has been waking in the night and refusing to go back into his cot, he just screams and cries it's horrible. I give him milk when he wakes (he isn't really hungry because he gets 3 meals a day, milk and and pm and a bowl of weetabix before bed 😱) but he is in pain with his teeth so sleep training I don't feel is an option just now. Solidarity ✋🏼

They are and the most annoying is the response "oh god I couldn't deal with that, the earliest they ever get up is 7am and that's if there unwell" 😑 haha

Very true! We have probably birthed super stars 😂 I will let you all know tomorrow 😆 x

I think teething has been a lot to do with what's going on. She's had two top and two bottom back teeth come through all at the same time bless her. I think we can try our best with naps schedules and bedtimes but they will do what they want 😂 one day I will get my lie ins back!

@CatSeany you must be knackered?! Or just use to it now? I hope this isn't her new normal but it definitely feels like it now! 😂

This is the norm for me. It sucks but I'm so used to it now that 530 seems like a proper treat.

I figured out that my DD was getting cold around that time in the morning which was waking her up. I would bring her into bed with us just before she would normally wake up and she would continue to sleep until I properly woke up! It could be that but maybe not with this heat?!

Too much day sleep, drop the morning nap and let her nap 2.5 hrs in the noon ideally from 12.30-3pm, bedtime at 7.

Later bedtime definitelt, and also when she wakes up at 5am, is she happy in her cot? If so leave her and see if she falls back to sleep, why do you get her up? Or even if she doesn't go back to sleep, may give you another 20mins or so beforw shouting etc begins

Do you have a good blackout blind? Switching to waking at 5 fits with current sunrise.

Mine was like this until she was six. She learned to get up and put the telly on.

I feel your pain OP, I remember this well. It does get easier.

Try blackout blinds with blackout curtains over them ( worth the money). Only use them at night, not for daytime naps. When she wakes at 5, go into the room but don't interact. Change her or feed her if necessary but do it without talking. Then stay in the room with her (without interacting) until a time you feel is acceptable, e.g. 6am. Then open the curtains, saying "Morning! Time to get up!". After a few mornings of this you might notice a difference. Be patient and stick at it.

I feel your pain, my ds wakes between 5:45-6 15 every day and he's 5!! He will sleep in on holiday until 7 at the latest.

My advice would be just to accept you will be getting up early and go to bed earlier. Fingers crossed this is short term but once you have accepted you start your day earlier and stop feeling frustrated it might improve things (easier said then done I know!!)

As a baby if my son made it to 6am it was a good day. He's 18 now and is still up most days at 6am. He's just a high energy guy. Your baby may be a morning person!

So we had success this morning 😀 she slept through till 6.10am which was lot easier then getting up at 5am!

We have a black out blind in her room and it depends how she is in the morning. Sometimes she's just stood up in her cot chatting away so I will leave her for a while. Some mornings she's upset so I go get her.

I'm definitely going to try leaving the Morning nap and get her to sleep around 12 like I did yesterday. She's just not a very long napper so I usually have to catch her as she's starting to wake and get her back to sleep so she gets at least 2 hours nap. I don't mind though if it helps with the mornings haha 😂

The temp in her room has been high with this weather but I've dressed her accordingly. Her room is boiling in the summer but freezing in the winter. Never a happy medium 😂

I think she is a morning person but god knows where she's gotten that from as me and her dad aren't!